The People's Republic of China Embassy in Georgia has called the US ambassador's comments regarding the Chinese company's investment in Anaklia port "preposterous" and accused the American diplomat of unprofessionalism.
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“the assertions of the head of U.S. Embassy in Georgia, such as “China Communications Construction Company is majority owned by the Communist Party of China”, “the CPC and the People’s Republic of China is the number one bankroller and financier of the Russian military today”, are preposterous and seriously inconsistent with facts. The Chinese side strongly deplores such a statement,” the embassy said in a statement today.
The Chinese side emphasizes that Robin Dunnigan's statement contradicts the "San Francisco Vision" agreed upon by President Xi Jinping and President Joe Biden in November 2023.
“The Chinese side also regrets the fact that the U.S. diplomat showed no professionalism when making a statement,” the statement of the Chinese embassy reads.
US Ambassador to Georgia Robin Dunnigan responded to the involvement of the Chinese company in the Anaklia port project, stating that the majority owner of China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) is the Chinese Communist Party, which is connected to the Chinese army. “China Communications Construction Company is majority owned by the Communist Party of China and The Chinese Communist Party is the number one financier and bankroller of the Russian military today. So one question is, why deepen economic ties with the party that finances your occupier? Because the Russian army is financed by the Communist Party of China," said the US ambassador in an interview with Interpressnews.
Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze assessed the American ambassador's comment as a "double standard." "Everyone knows that China is one of the most important trade partners for the European Union and the United States of America. When we hear criticism of Georgia for deepening economic relations with China under such conditions, it is a double standard, and for us, such a double standard is absolutely unacceptable," said Kobakhidze.
On May 29, the Minister of Economy of Georgia, Levan Davitashvili, announced that the private investor in the strategic Anaklia deep-water port project will be a Chinese consortium, which includes China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC). The port is planned to be built with state participation - 51% owned by the state and 49% by the private investor.
The Chinese state-owned company CCCC is sanctioned by the US. On the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control's sanctions list website, CCCC is listed under Chinese military-industrial complex companies (NS-CMIC list). This list includes entities involved in military and surveillance technology at the behest of the People's Republic of China. Initiated during the Trump administration, the list was continued and expanded by the Biden administration. President Joe Biden's executive order on June 3, 2021, restricts investment in Chinese companies, including CCCC, citing these companies' perceived threat to US national security due to their ties to China's military-industrial complex. In 2009, the World Bank sanctioned CCCC for fraud and imposed an eight-year ban on projects financed by them.
